ABSTRACT
Sound production by animals is not as universal as one might think. We know that the vertebrates are outstanding sound producers, especially birds. Many members of the Orthoptera are rivals of the birds and far outnumber them in species as well as individuals. Although the quality of their song is debatable, the whirr and chirr of katydids and field and tree crickets are unforgetable sounds that are as much a part of summer as the wind in the trees and the splashing of water. Summer katydids replace the sound of spring frogs. Grasshoppers too are a part of the summer chorus, but their songs are not so well known. Crickets are so well thought of that they occupy a significant place in our poetic literature and art. Grasshoppers are cast into metal wind vanes, such as the one atop Boston's Faneuil Hall, or adopted as a colophon, such as that adopted by Old Sturbridge Village, Massachusetts (Fig. 11.1). A grasshopper appeared on the heraldic crest of Sir Thomas Gresham, a London banker in the mid-sixteenth century. An ancient Greek symbol denotes that they sprang from the soil of Athens. Unfortunately, grasshoppers are often very destructive and universally despised by farmers. As a result of their despoilations, they found a place in the Bible; they are the locusts of the Old Testament that devastated Egypt.
